twigs and kids
by aikotters
Summary: Edogawa Conan transfers into Teitan Elementary 1-B. Ayumi is interested. Genta is not. Mitsuhiko, as always, does his best to compromise. Conan? Conan is confused. sequel to "the first crow" part of the amnesia!AU
1. Chapter 1

_One - Balance (Genta and Ayumi)_

Genta and Ayumi have always been a pair of opposites. To him, Ayumi is cute while to her Genta is strong. She is sweet and soft, he is rough and coarse. He is tall, she is short. They are friends and no one else is. Everything is in balance, and to Genta, that is the most important thing.

His dad would say that she completes him and his life and Genta really likes that. That's why she's Genta's friend, no more, no less.

It's the same in school. Everyone has a place. Everyone has a purpose. Everyone is known for something. Ami knows how to spin tops and can read English sometimes. Katsuharu makes the best card towers and can remember the new Kamen Yaiba episodes word-for-word the following day and reenact them perfectly. Mitsuhiko is best at science and technology and can even help _sensei_ with the projector board, he's studied it so much.

Even though it's not a full class, everyone can do something. That's what makes them work and why _sensei_ loves them best.

So when the rumor floats around that there's gonna be a transfer student, Genta is _not happy._

Ayumi-chan is of course, and he likes when she's happy but this time it puts a crease in his brow anyway. Genta and change are not friends, his life is happy and good and the routine is what keeps him grounded. So he grumbles to himself and does not complain too much, lest he worry Ayumi-chan who knows and understands, but he seethes as he tries to figure out just what will need to be recategorized. What's going where now, what will _sensei_ do now? He needs to make a new spot.

It's way too much work for one person. He huffs and settles back.

This transfer student thing better not suck. Or else. He doesn't know what he's gonna do, but he's gonna do something.

* * *

Ayumi, like Genta, likes things to be where they belong. But in the same way, it's not out of organization or of categorization, but because people were people and things needed to belong. They just should. That was only right. They could belong anywhere, but it was where they chose to belong that mattered most.

So she of course is excited. Where is this stranger boy going to belong? She knows it's a boy, because she saw a boy and a taller onee-san come into the school. He had been so tiny really, smaller than even her. He had been really focused on his shoes but would respond to any question he was asked.

Poor guy, he must have been really scared. Though, of course he was. Japan and America were so far apart even on maps! He probably still wasn't great at Japanese.

Well, Ayumi will definitely help! He is probably a nice kid.

Overhead, the bell rings and around her children rush to their chairs, including her. Behind her Mitsuhiko is stuffing a book back into his bag. He keeps trying to read hard stuff again, this time looked like _Lord of the Rings_. She wonders if his mom knows.

She assumes no. He's gotten real good at hiding stuff from her.

The room suddenly goes quiet. Kobayashi-_sensei_'s footsteps tap cheerfully across the floor. She's always like that, always a low kind of happy. That's what Ayumi likes about her. She's always supportive even when she's angry. Even at her most frustrated face she supports them.

Ayumi's mom says that's what a good teacher does.

Her voice is quiet and they can't entirely tell what she's saying. "English," hisses Mitsuhiko-kun from behind her and the class whispering starts again. "My dad uses that in phone calls!"

Ooh he really is from America!

(Yes she knows other countries are native English speakers and yes she knows that she won't be able to tell, but in all the anime Ayumi has ever watched, which isn't a lot, the transfer students are from America! Or France. But it's usually America!)

Kobayashi-sensei comes in first, leading in again, one of the tiniest kids Ayumi has ever seen and she has seen babies. He isn't holding her hand, rather he's looking down at his shoes as he trails after her. His hands, Ayumi notices, are curled into fists. But it's not like Genta-kun's fists when he's swiping at you because he doesn't know his own strength, but it's like her mom gets sometimes, like he's looking for something to hold onto.

The little boy turns to look at them and for a moment Ayumi is lost in the sheer _blue_ behind those glasses. They're made bigger by the glass lens, she knows but for now she's stuck on how bright blue they are, and how sad. How… scared. Gosh it really must be scary, a new country and another language. It must be big. And lonely. Well that was fine, she could help with that.

He's dressed in a small suit, it a little heavy on his shoulders. The tie is neat on his neck, bright and garish red. She can see his knees and they look scratched up. Heavily scratched up.

"Hello," he says and tries to smile. It's small, but Ayumi feels he's trying. "I'm… Edogawa Conan. My family is from America and I…" He stops, looks down for a moment, mouths the words. And they wait because children can be notoriously patient when they want to be. "I'm staying with friends of another family. I… It's very nice to meet you."

His voice, in a louder classroom, would have been drowned out. But they hear every word. And the children absorb them, trying to understand them.

Mitsuhiko understands immediately, because his papa teaches him English and much more formal Japanese than most children even try to learn. Everyone else takes a nanosecond longer. Maybe more.

And that's why it's only by the time that Conan has reached his seat and pulled out a notebook that the giggling starts.

It's harmless, really, laughter. It's supposed to express joy. And his name is funny, and he knows it, and they all know it. But when they catch up and all start giggling and can't stop, Ayumi's the only one who sees not the flush of upset and hurt that often happens, but a sort of knowing, and a disappointment.

There's a word her mom uses to describe her dad when he's at work and he gets more work. And it's like being disappointment, but it's sharper, bigger.

Like Conan-kun had known this would happen all along and still wishes it wasn't happening anyway.

He doesn't even look upset either. His face is just thoughtful, and only seems to change as the noise grows louder. He only shrinks into himself _then, _like the noise is more important than them laughing is.

And watching him that way, Ayumi stops laughing. For some reason, what should be harmlessly silly and fun and make him theirs, make him part of the group, make him friend, suddenly isn't funny anymore.

And she doesn't know why.

* * *

**_A/N:_ **You know, I went into this planning to make this a more lighthearted part of the story, aka Conan makes friends and things are awkward but he makes friends. And then I made the mistake of reading the canonical chapter where he transfers in. And they really do all laugh at him and his silly name and yes it's his own fault there, but it still must be so awkward. He's already gotta be six again, now he's gonna remembered for his weird name and big glasses. Conan had the experience of being Shinichi to help before, but he really doesn't now, so he's not in a good place.

Also bless Ayumi. She's such a good kid. She's really trying so hard. The Detective Kids are so good I love them. Now Genta... I had to give him a lot. Because he's generally made out to be the slow one, the slowest of the kids, the most like a typical shonen protagonist in a smart kid anime. He's not dumb though! He's a good kid who takes a minute to adjust and that stuff's generally pretty hard for him. But of everyone, he's also the most honest and open-hearted and that's really needed in the Detective Kids when you have super logical Mitsuhiko, sunshine and idealism rainbows Ayumi and the terrors that are Conan and Ai in general. He rounds out by being honest about stuff, good or bad but also by being generally tough. And he has no hesitation when it comes to saving or protecting his friends so I guarantee in like: ten years, he'll be the one who would shake Conan and Ai out of their angst funks, maybe five.

Anyway, keep on keeping on guys! This fic is a lot of fun and I'm loving this series. I'm slowly planning it out more and more and I look forward to your reactions! Thanks again!


	2. Chapter 2

_Warnings: Troubling unchildlike behavior, general antisocial children, Conan currently is his own warning. He's not doing so hot everyone._

* * *

Chapter Two - Standing (Mitsuhiko and Ayumi)

Mitsuhiko is the smartest kid in class.

Mostly. At the least, he's the most logical. Everyone believes in ghosts, everyone thinks if you don't put your clothes on a certain way you'll break your toes, everyone believes certain numbers are cursed. Mitsuhiko? He believes none of that. He believes in science and things you can study. He believes in facts. He knows how to handle facts. His father loves them, and therefore so shall he.

Still, new information is always a struggle, and right now, it's a struggle to admit that the transfer student _might_ be smarter than him.

He thinks so because the two or three times he's been called on, Conan-kun has answered without even seeming to pause and think about it, almost surprising himself. But he sits to the side, and scribbles obediently the whole time, answers quickly and reads with surprising fluidity. Sensei doesn't seem to mind, in fact she seems to have already known, but everyone pauses a little when he answers.

Not that Mitsuhiko can't answer either because he _does_. He's just a hair slower, a bit more uncertain, and it burns.

For once, he can't wait for lunch for the awkward scrunchy feeling in his stomach to go away.

Everyone starts pushing their desks together like always. Ayumi-chan (she's so cute!) hops over to Conan-kun's desk, a little bit slower than usual. Like the usual spring in her step has been weakened. And he doesn't know why that is, the morning hadn't been that unusual. But Ayumi-chan is super observant, she knows things so well.

"Conan-kun, do you want to eat lunch with Genta-kun and me?" she chirps.

"Don't invite him, he's lame!" Genta calls and Mitsuhiko sighs. He's not offended by Genta-kun much anymore. It had taken the burlier boy a year to get used to him, that was just how he was. He doesn't mean harm. But he sounds like it.

Conan-kun doesn't really seem to _react_ to that either. He blinks owlishly behind his glasses. "No, uhm, I'm all right. Thank you though."

"Are you sure?" Ayumi presses, as is right. "We have plenty of room. Genta-kun can just be rude sometimes."

"No thank you," Conan-kun repeats, a little softer now.

"Please!" Ayumi-chan wheedles. "I want to know more about America!"

From over the book he's putting away, Mitsuhiko can see the indecision warring in his face and moves his desk over beside Genta-kun so there's a little space between them.

Conan-kun nods slowly. "If you don't mind…"

Ayumi-chan beams. "Nope!"

Mitsuhiko is only six, nearly seven. He's good at putting things together. He can tell right now that Genta-kun is jealous, burning with the loss of his best friend to something new and shiny. He can tell that Ayumi-chan is genuinely curious about this new boy and wants another friend who is a little less scary and a little more cool, but also something is bugging her very hard.

And he can also tell that Edogawa Conan-kun doesn't even seem to see her, or anyone or anything. He has completely clocked out from where they are and he is very, very uncontrollably unhappy.

_He doesn't want to be here,_ Mitsuhiko assumes_. He wants to be home, he wants to be wherever this isn't._

"Conan-kun," he tries, before Ayumi-chan can put her foot in her mouth and look bad (because she never should). "Do you play any sports?"

Conan-kun looks at him now, the blue eyes uncomfortably aware of his black ones, almost seeming to analyze him. He nods slowly as he finishes sliding his desk over, trailing after them to the line to wash their hands and get their food. "Soccer…" he finally says. "Ran-nee-chan wants me to get into mixed martial arts, because I'm so small…"

"Who's that?" Genta grumbles. Conan-kun doesn't jump, but turns his head just so and Mitsuhiko sees _Genta-kun_ flinch a little.

Conan-kun looks back in front of him. "She and her parents are taking care of me while they look for my relatives. I think it might be per-ma-nent, though." He sounds out the word like he's tasting it. "Her dad's a detective."

"Like in cop shows?!" Ayumi-chan's voice goes a little high and Conan-kun winces, but nods.

"Mm. It's slow though. There are lots of murders and crimes in Beika, but private detectives need to be sought out before anything happens. But I'll be in danger if I'm with them unprotected, so Ran-nee-chan and the nice professor are looking for ways I can look after myself."

The boy almost sounds bored. Like it's less important than the rice he's getting in his bowl. Like the implication he's not safe isn't a big deal.

Ayumi-chan blinks, as if there is something she feels she should know, but she doesn't know how to say. "Mama says that too, but she just tells me to be careful on the way home. Your family must be protective."

Conan-kun nods. "They are… it's really nice of them." And that's all he says until they're back in their seats, and Mitsuhiko is definitely uncomfortable. Then he asks in that same soft voice. "What do you guys like to do?"

This is normal, this is safe, this makes sense and all three of them launch into different conversation topics, even Genta-kun. The cool air seems to recede and he even smiles a little as they talk, nodding along like it matters.

But Mitsuhiko's father taught him to read eyes, and these eyes are still as distant as ever. But now, he suspects, it might not be that it doesn't matter. It might be that it matters too much.

* * *

That feeling has only gotten worse.

Ayumi isn't Mitsuhiko-kun who can understand the things he sees or Genta-kun, who follows his heart to the point of blindness but she trusts her gut. Guts are usually right, papa says.

Her gut is saying that something is very wrong with their transfer student.

He's not just sad though he is sad. He's hurting somehow, hurting deep inside and Ayumi has no idea how to deal with that except to be nice, but her mama had warned her once that being nice is often a cover up to make yourself feel good about yourself and not to just be nice for the sake of it or because the person needs nice. But she's not doing that so it should be working.

But then Genta-kun opens his mouth and says so firmly that she knows he means well but doesn't know what he means as he says, "Conan, you're weird!"

And suddenly there's something making its way down her shirt and into the back of her dress as Conan-kun's eyes seem to _snap _into clarity. And he looks at Genta-kun very big and very cool, like water from a faucet. They are sharp like her mama's kitchen knives, looking at Genta-kun, looking through him.

And just as quick as the look is there, it's gone, and Conan-kun is slumping, slipping out of his chair like water. "Yeah," he says. "I know. Thanks for letting me sit with you at lunch anyway."

That's when Sensei returns from her sudden meeting and they're all reassembling the room with a bitter taste in their mouths.

Not for the first time, Ayumi is filled to the brim with anger at her good friend. But what holds her tongue is the sense that her friend is just as angry with himself.

She risks a glance at Mitsuhiko-kun, at his furrowed brow, and only then looks at Genta-kun.

She nods to them both. They know what to do.

* * *

**_A/N:_ **Leave these kids alone, they're trying so hard and Conan is... well, he's also trying. Ever feel six but everything in your brain and memory says sixteen? That's Conan right now.


	3. Chapter 3

_Warnings: Panic attacks, nightmares, Conan, attempted self-harm, near death experiences_

* * *

_Chapter Three - Oddball (Conan)_

School ends and Conan is actually… pretty proud of himself. He didn't run screaming from the room once, or even run at all, and he had promised Ran-nee-chan he would do his best not to. So today was a win. One down, thousands more to go.

He rubs his eyes. He's not supposed to think of it like that. Eri-obaa-san says that you must think of things as what is going on now, not what will be, or he'll become like Kogoro-otchan. Not that Kogoro-otchan is bad as she says either, but he is also rather sad so Conan gets the idea. You can be sad, but don't just be sad. Don't just be feelings.

Besides, the taught part of school is super easy. It might just be not-Conan at work, but he knows so many things that what they're doing is slow. It's good to have a refresher though, and Kobayashi-sensei said as long as he paid attention to answer questions and read, he could write other things on the side. Ran-nee-chan wanted to read what he wrote someday, she had said with some fondness, like the not-Conan had not done something that now he was doing. But she was still excited, so it mattered.

The kids however… they're not so easy.

They laugh a lot at little things, and the whole class is loud. Even as he's packing up his books they're loud. They'd laughed at his name, which was not surprising, Ran-nee-chan had warned him of that, in her usual, sweet way. She's very nice, and very scary.

Though so is sensei, who had taken one look at his scores and suggested he do things other than classwork to not be bored. And he had been bored.

Most of the other kids have already left together, which Conan had made on purpose so he didn't let the Mouris think he had been too scared to stay too long after and had run home crying.

He's not going to cry. He's six, he's practically a big kid and he doesn't want to make Ran-nee-chan worry any more than she is.

Last notebook packed away, he pulls his bag shut and the straps over his shoulders. It's thick and hefty but not new, borrowed from not-Conan's old things. He doesn't really mind. He can get new things when he's sure he'll stay. The cell phone and the music player were bad enough to him.

Along with everything Mr. Agasa's been giving him. He's too nice too.

Conan knows adults are usually nice to children, the past few days he's been observing at the cafe everyone is sweet to him, or their own kids. It hurts a little, like an old wound when it's wet. Like not-Conan had wanted it once and then given up on it for some reason.

He wonders what that person's parents were like, are like. He doesn't think they're dead.

Rich, maybe? Smart with money? Smart? Did they love him? Did they love him like the Mouris try to love each other sometimes? He wonders but he doesn't want to ask, because something might happen if he remembers.

He scans for his shoe locker, towards the middle, slips on his nice shoes, things that can make his feet super tough to kick things the professor had said, and puts the clean ones away for the day. His feet fit comfortably in these which is a little weird but really nice again.

It's… odd.

He sets off towards home, or close to home anyway. Close as he'll ever get, he's pretty sure.

As he walks down the path, his mind low but slow, feels them behind him. They're not subtle, people are a lot less subtle than they think is one of the first things that Uncle Kogoro taught him that makes the most sense. So he knows they're following him and makes every effort to pretend it's not a big deal.

And it might not be yet, He's pretty sure they're just the kids from class, because they're being too quiet and also shushing each other loudly.

He's not sure why they're following him. Is that what transfer students get? Is it like that hazing thing that happens in American universities? Maybe they're waiting to dump him in a garbage can, or throw water balloons at him. That would explain how he lost them a couple of times, they were stopping without keeping a lookout. It makes sense to him, they have each other to help.

For a moment, a foreign yearning fills his chest and stomach and throat and then he swallows it, shoves it down, down, _down_ because it's _not his_. No matter how lonely it is, he will make friends for himself and not that thing, not cling to someone dead dead dead.

Besides, Conan figures he accidentally scared his class away anyway.

He reaches the Detective Agency within a half an hour and by then he really is tired because towards the end he had gone a different way around just to annoy them and he was small enough he could crawl in places people ignored. They would probably found him eventually, but he doubted it. He goes up the stairs and opens the door just as he hears the big boy - Kojima or something, right?- Yelling about something or other. He doesn't question it.

"I'm back," he calls softly, and the words feel like Spanish in his mouth. He knows them but he doesn't remember saying them.

There's an acknowledging grunt from the desk and Conan peeks up at Kogoro who is guzzling a seltzer water. "No dead bodies. An accomplishment, huh kid?"

He blinks, then he nods slowly. "I think so Uncle." He has no idea what the right answer is. "Will Ran-nee-chan be late today?"

"Probably. You'll have to scrounge, I'm heading out soon."

Conan hadn't been on many cases, and if everyone here had their way, he wouldn't, even though they all seemed to think he saw things they didn't, but he did know that Uncle Kogoro was taking more of them. Not so many it bothered Ran-nee-chan, but enough that it made her happy. Of course he always comes home smelling bad but Ran-nee-chan forgives him so Conan pretends that he doesn't mind even though he thinks it seems a little gross.

The not-Conan says it's hypocritical and Conan doesn't know what that means so it's _probably wrong._

"Have fun, Uncle," he says instead, not to shake the waters and cause a problem. Uncle grunts and waves him off and Conan settles on the couch instead. He doesn't have any homework with him, he had done it during those last seconds of lunch.

So, since Ran-nee-chan won't want him to get hurt making food, he grabs the nearest blanket and closes his eyes.

He dreams of blurry shapes, of something heavy on his head, of a raw throat, of _hothothot _and sharp things that float and and-

Her face, wet with tears and terror.

Conan wakes up _screaming_.

He doesn't notice it breaks Kogoro from his case study, doesn't hear the thud thud of the door at the other side of the room (He does but he hears footsteps he didn't pay attention to, not-Conan writhing and twisting and dying, he's dying he's sure he's dying-

And hands on his mouth, hands hands hands in his mouth, on his throat, in in, with something in-

His arms snap out and he twists and twists and screams and there is no safe smell, there is no Ran smell or taste and he is alone. He left her and now

Shinichi is alone and dead.

And Conan wraps his fingers around something slim. Because he is not coming back, he refuses to let him come back, let him go, _let him go-_

* * *

**_A/N:_** I'm not sorry about the cliffhanger, but I am sorry about Conan. Aka, amnesia is trying to work one way but also trying to heal from the amnesia because most amnesia is temporary if I remember my research right. It's not going to go exactly how amnesia actually works but Conan does subconsciously want to know more about himself (Shinichi) so he's going to be trying hard to remember when he really shouldn't.

Also arguably, Kudo Shinichi may as well have died that day at Tropical Land. Even by the end of canon, the Shinichi who exists in show isn't the same kid from the start. Well, we can hope anyway. In this case it's a little more literal.

Anyway, see you next time for the last chapter!


	4. Chapter 4

_Warning: brief memory recall, knowledge of death for a child, trauma, Conan's entire life at the moment._

* * *

Chapter Four - Wavering (Ran and Shinichi)

Ran had sent Conan-kun off with a watery smile. He'd returned it, tremulously, at the time. But he'd said he'd try and the teacher had said she'd keep an eye on him. That had been enough. So she'd risked staying out with Sonoko a little longer. She doesn't tell her friend anything still, not yet. Because Sonoko won't just fret, she'll try to _do something. _And though Sonoko means well, there's really nothing she can do at the moment aside from get into trouble.

That's even if she believes her.

Still, spending time with her best friend is so much fun. She can't help but skip a little. Everything is starting to look up.

At least until she sees three kids banging on her father's door, yelling and causing heads to poke out of windows. And then, further away, someone else is really screaming. Terror screaming.

Conan-kun is screaming.

Autopilot presses her legs and she runs up the stairs, turns the knob so hard it _breaks off_, she'll worry later, she has to worry later and she runs in to see her father trying to-

When this is over she is going to be genuinely sick. But as it is, she steps forward, to the loud, loud earsplitting cries for help that seem so much worse-

_Did he scream like this? Why did no one hear him scream? Why did no one _care_?_

Dad slowly moves away, maybe there's something in her face as he does, she's not sure but she's so grateful. She picks up Conan, who isn't moving now, his small hands tight around his small throat but not squeezing, too tired to squeeze, too rote-

Like, deep down, he knows how much pressure you need.

Shinichi did, Conan does-

And suddenly she is fire, burning anger and roaring hurt and unquenched love. She approaches with care to not burn him as she puts him in her lap. He quivers and whimpers but the screaming has stopped. His eyes are blank and glassy.

"Conan-kun," she says softly. "Let go of Shinichi, okay? He doesn't mean to hurt you. He's probably confused like you."

He lets go, but he does nothing else, rent silent and hollow. He sits limp in her lap like a doll. Like a little boy doll that she'd wanted as a child. Like the puppy she'd seen in every pet store window after a few days away from the whip and the cameras and the cold.

"Ran," he says suddenly. And it's not Conan's cute, baffled voice, finding his feet and unbearably curious, but it's not Shinichi confidence and surety either. It's somewhere in the middle, helpless and scared but still in trust of her, of absolute certainty in her and her life and in that his is wrong. "Ran I'm sorry. I don't think I'll be coming back."

Her heart aches a little because she knows this.

"Be careful," he begs in that same voice. "Something is wrong with me. I don't know what and I- I don't _know_." And Shinichi is in that voice because he hates not knowing things, hates being caught off guard, hates being the stupid one in any conversation because he works hard to be smart. "I don't know who they are and what they want or anything, but they're willing to risk so much, Ran, so much. There is something… in him. In me now, but him forward I think. I can't think, it's so hot Ran, it's so _hot-"_

She can't speak, she can't move, she can't breathe, she can barely nod.

"Conan-kun?"

The little kids outside. The girl has stepped forward, eyes wide and hurt and frightened, but fingers curled into fists.

Shinichi's tiny head lolls and he looks at her, looks at them and _smiles. _"Yeah," he says. "I'm okay, I had a really bad nightmare and it hasn't stopped yet. This will happen, but I'll be okay. It's gonna be hard but but if I have friends like you, I'll be okay, I'm pretty sure. But only if you want to."

"We wouldn't be here if we didn't want to be friends," the girl says plainly without stuttering or looking away and some tiny tension unwinds from Shinichi's shoulders.

He bobs his head as if he knows but he doesn't. "Did you know?" he says, rather conversationally even though his hands are twitching and his feet are limp. "That Sherlock Holmes had street kids who found cases and clues? People and places, things he, in his place, couldn't get to? They called them The Baker Street Irregulars. I think… I think it's time we make some for this person here. Ran is… kind, a crybaby, determined, awkward, funny, so many things. I think she can be our Sherlock Holmes now… I want to be her Watson now… I think, I think… it's hot, it's really hot…"

He trails off and shivers all over, eyes opening then closing, coughing and shaking and under Ran's arms he _is hot_, like he's about to burn away all over.

And then, he is asleep again, eyes shut, breathing slow, but not peaceful. There are marks on his neck and the back of his shirt is damp.

The little girl in the middle of their agency sinks to the ground and cries.

Ran, when out of her stupor, wishes she could do the same.

(She does behind her bedroom door.)

* * *

Conan doesn't wake up like all is well and he doesn't remember the panic attack.

Conan wakes up and remembers dying, dying dying and the not-Conan voice telling him "look after Ran, she has enough burdens, make them lighter, help her get towards happiness" and he doesn't really know what that all means, but he understands the idea.

Be a good kid. Don't let the bad men get you again. Help her around the house.

Those things didn't stop not-Conan's parents from leaving but they will stop Ran-nee-chan from breaking so fast. Which is all he can do with his tiny hands and oversized feet.

Conan wakes up and remembers the words that had left his mouth in a lot of voices, and remembers the belief steady and thrumming that he has something, he had something and whatever it is, it's not supposed to exist and yet he is here and he does. And it's not going to work out forever if he's not careful.

So he has to figure out that too if he doesn't want the burning feeling to be real again.

This is going to be hard, he thinks.

But he gets up, body a little achy and a lot shaky and goes to help Ran fumble her way through dinner.

And if he goes into school tomorrow with his head ducked down and a shyer little smile towards the friendly Ayumi, the staring Genta and the curious but strangely firm Mitsuhiko, well, it's surely okay, isn't it?

* * *

_**A/N:** _And that's a wrap for this fic. I'm terribly sorry for the rushed ending but lingering on this would have only made it sadder in the long run. Next time, unsure of when that is, enjoy a peek into Kogoro and Eri following the aftermath of this. Thanks so much and see you next time!


End file.
